NS 430 Navigation system

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There are modules and there are modules, and then there is this oddity. It is exactly what it says on the tin: a GNS 430 “NS 430” GPS/Nav/Comm system for the Mi-8MTV2 that gets bolted into the dashboard of your magnificent helicopter if the mission and server allows for it.

The Mi-8MTV2 is not exactly lacking in navigation and radio equipment as it is, between its R-863, YaDRA-1A, R-828, ARK-9, and ARK-UD homing receivers and its DISS-15 doppler navigator, but they all rely on the presence of the appropriate transmitters, or on accurate relative position data and somewhat careful flying. It is all (mid-)20th century tech — the NS 430 brings the Magnificent Eight into the new millennium, or at least into the 1990s, with the ability to home to more modern aviation beacons and to use GPS navigation.

It also contains navigation and terrain data and tools for planning routes between and approaches to airports, which allows for more complex navigation under more adverse conditions than the baseline instruments do.

It is a very accurate recreation of the GNS 430 (which, coincidentally, can be studied and learned in Garmin's own 400/500-series simulator app), but at the end of the day, it is just a single fancy toy for a single module. For a short while, it was also available in the [[L-39_Albatross|L-39] cockpit, but that ability was removed as the NS 430 moved out of early beta. Now, it is “only” early access, with vague promises that it may at some point be integrated into more aircraft but with no clear answers given by anyone.

(Perhaps not entirely) coincidentally, one of the campaigns for the Mi-8MTV2 is the Oilfield Campaign, which is all about mastering the helicopter's various navigation options. The NS 430 certainly helps with that particular problem, but to the point where half the challenge of the campaign is removed — the NS 430 will not do sling loading for you, which is the other half.

Links and files

• 400W/500W Series Trainer for Windows from Garmin.
• Manuals for GNS 430 from Garmin.
• DCS: NS 430 Navigation System for DCS: Mi-8MTV2 by Belsimtek in the DCS shop.

Related DCS modules

• Mi-8MTV2 Magnificent Eight